Pumpkin Pasta Sauce with Sage and Sausage

Pumpkin Pasta Sauce with Sage and Sausage will be a new fall favorite! With pumpkin purée, sage, chicken sausage, warming spices and a pasta of your choice, this cozy dinner recipe comes together easily.

This creamy pumpkin sauce is loaded with warming spices, caramelized onion and hearty sausage.

Together with wide noodles to cling to, this is the most comforting, cozy and delicious pasta recipe.

Always a crowd pleaser, fairly quick to make, this pumpkin pasta recipe is the essence of fall.

In early fall -- or even earlier -- we start seeing pumpkins. Through windows, on doorsteps, in fields and in every single store -- they're everywhere. They're starring in all sorts of recipes.

• pumpkin pies
• pumpkin cookies
• pumpkin coffee cake
• pumpkin mashed potatoes
• pumpkin braised short ribs

The Ingredients

(Often I suggest brands I love and use — they’re only suggestions, this is not a sponsored post.)


• dry pasta of your choice - My favorite for this pumpkin pasta sauce is Pappardelle. I love how the sauce clings to the long, flat and wide ribbons of pasta.
• extra virgin olive oil- I like this one.
• raw sweet Italian chicken sausage
• onion - Try to choose onions that are firm, heavy for their size and without bruises.
• garlic - Look for firm heads of garlic without any soft spots or green shoots, which are an indication it's old and likely bitter. (Raw garlic cloves should be firm without any dark spots.) Pro tip: if there are green shoots in garlic you already have, just cut the cloves in half and remove them with the tip of a paring knife. The rest of the clove should still be good.
• fresh sage leaves - Look for perky bunches and avoid any brown, bruised or yellow leaves.
• ground cinnamon
• chili paste - This one is my favorite.
• dry sherry
• chicken stock - Try to purchase one with little to no sodium.
• pumpkin purée - Canned pumpkin purée will work very well, and you can also use fresh.

(See recipe card below for quantities.)

The combination of the earthy, pine-like sage flavor with the sweetness from the pumpkin is heavenly.

Substitutions and Variations

• Sweet Italian chicken sausage. You can substitute the sausage with ground chicken or turkey if your prefer it, or any sausage you like.
• Fresh sage leaves. Sage and pumpkin are a classic fall pairing, however fresh oregano would also be great. Additionally, the fresh sage can be substituted with dry sage, using about ⅓ the amount.
• Chili paste. You can substitute the chili paste with red pepper flakes. And if you don't want any extra heat, just omit it all together.
• Dry sherry. Vermouth, Marsala and Madeira are all great substitutes for the sherry. If you don't want to add any alcohol, make up the difference with the stock.
• Chicken stock - Vegetable or turkey stock both work well, too.
• Pumpkin purée. Butternut squash purée is just as tasty in this recipe and it's very similar in flavor.
• Vegetarian and vegan version. Easy -- just omit the sausage and use vegetable stock. You'll need to add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the recipe in the beginning to sauté the onions and garlic. Then follow the same instructions and you'll have a delicious creamy pumpkin pasta sauce.
• Gluten-free version. Use your favorite gluten-free pasta.

Recipe Tips

• You'll always make someone happy if you have a bowl of freshly grated Parmesan cheese on the table.

How to Make it

(More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.)

- Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water until it's al dente. (Al dente means "to the tooth." The pasta should be tender, but with a bite to it. Drain but save about ¼ cup of the pasta water. Set aside.

- Add the sausage to a large sauté pan. Break up the pieces with a wooden spatula and sauté just until cooked through over medium-low heat. (If there isn't enough grease from the sausage, add a bit of olive oil.) Add the cooked sausage to a bowl and set aside.

- Add the onions and garlic to the same pan. Sauté, mixing often, until the onions are soft and beginning to brown.

- Return the cooked sausage to the pan and add the sage, cinnamon and chili paste. Mix and sauté for another few minutes to blend the flavors.

- Turn the heat to high and add the sherry. Use a flat-edged spatula to scrape the bottom of the pan. Add the reserved pasta water, chicken stock and pumpkin and stir until blended. Simmer for 5 minutes and then season to taste with salt and pepper.

- Add your cooked pasta to the pan and mix until it's well coated with all of the ingredients, and let it cook on low heat for a few minutes, just to be sure the pasta is hot.

Serving Suggestions

I would easily and happily serve this on its own -- but, I do think it's always nice to add a salad -- something light, something fresh.

A beautiful Persimmon Salad is perfect for fall and would be lovely with this pasta dish. I also think it's fantastic with Parmesan Asparagus Salad or Snow Pea Shoot Orange-Cranberry Salad.

And of course, a fantastic loaf of rustic bread is in order.

Making it Ahead

• You can make the pumpkin pasta sauce the day before you want to serve it.
• To store it, let it come to room temperature, and pour it into an airtight container, then put it in the refrigerator. (If it's too thick when you reheat it, add a bit more of the chicken stock.)
• I do not suggest making the pasta ahead of time.
• You can also freeze the sauce in airtight container for up to three weeks.

This Pumpkin Pasta Sauce recipe with Sage and Sausage is everything fall is meant to be in the kitchen -- it's full of warming spices, pumpkin and sage.

And it's a hearty, scrumptious comfort food through and through!

I hope you love it!

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